Cement-Based Materials for Radioactive Waste Immobilization
Summary
Cement-based materials constitute a cornerstone of radioactive waste management, offering a versatile and cost-effective route to encase diverse waste streams. Traditional Portland cement and its blended variants rely on hydration reactions to produce calcium silicate hydrate gels that physically encapsulate radionuclides and chemically immobilise them through adsorption or incorporation into the cement matrix. Emerging alternatives include alkali-activated cements and geopolymers derived from industrial by-products or natural aluminosilicate sources, which form three-dimensional networks capable of accommodating high waste loadings. Innovations such as calcium aluminate, calcium sulfoaluminate and magnesium phosphate cements broaden the compositional landscape, enabling tailored resistance to aggressive chemical environments, radiation fields and long-term leaching. Additives ranging from ferrihydrite nanoparticles to ion-exchange materials further enhance radionuclide retention by promoting specific sorption mechanisms or inducing secondary phase formation. Challenges persist in ensuring dimensional stability, minimising porosity and maintaining performance over geological timescales under repository conditions. Efforts to optimise mix design, curing regimes and supplementary cementitious materials aim to reconcile operational practicality with stringent durability requirements, thereby supporting global endeavours in low-, intermediate- and high-level waste immobilization.
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Cement-Based Materials for Radioactive Waste Immobilization publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in cement-based materials for radioactive waste immobilization across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Cementitious matrix: A solid binder system composed of hydraulic or pozzolanic materials that hydrate or react to form a cohesive solid capable of encapsulating radioactive waste.
Geopolymer: An inorganic polymer network formed by alkali activation of aluminosilicate precursors, yielding a three-dimensional binder with high chemical and thermal stability.
Alkali-activated material: A cementitious system produced by treating industrial by-products or natural aluminosilicates with alkaline solutions to generate binding gels such as sodium aluminosilicate hydrates.
Radionuclide: A radioactive isotope of an element present in nuclear waste that may undergo decay and pose environmental or health risks if released.
Leachability index: A logarithmic measure of a waste form’s resistance to releasing radionuclides into contacting fluids, with higher values indicating lower mobility.
References
- Adsorption behaviour of simulant radionuclide cations and anions in metakaolin-based geopolymer. Journal of Hazardous Materials (2022).
- Effects of ferrihydrite nanoparticle incorporation in cementitious materials on radioactive waste immobilization. Journal of Hazardous Materials (2019).
- Alkali aluminosilicate geopolymers as binders to encapsulate strontium-selective titanate ion-exchangers. Dalton Transactions (2019).
- Geopolymers from fly ash and their gamma irradiation. Materials Letters (2018).
- Leaching Behavior of Cesium, Strontium, Cobalt, and Europium from Immobilized Cement Matrix. Applied Sciences (2021).
- Effect of NaOH concentration and curing regime on geopolymer. Revista IBRACON de Estruturas e Materiais (2017).
- Toward Sustainable Cementitious Radioactive Waste Forms: Immobilization of Problematic Operational Wastes. Sustainability (2021).
- On the Sustainable Utilization of Geopolymers for Safe Management of Radioactive Waste: A Review. Sustainability (2023).
- Recent Advances in Alternative Cementitious Materials for Nuclear Waste Immobilization: A Review. Sustainability (2022).
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